Category Archives: Miscellaneous

Miscellaneous Categories

Octane: Westside

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My cortado, made with the Petunias house-blend, at Octane: Westside in Atlanta.Until Monday, I’d never been to Atlanta. The closest I’d come was passing through Peachtree Station en-route to New Orleans two years ago. I also managed a brief stop at the airport in January on my way to Portland. However, on Monday this week, Amanda and I stepped off Amtrak’s Crescent Service (the very same train that I caught to New Orleans) and I was in Atlanta. Naturally, our thoughts to turned to coffee, and where better to start than with Octane?

Octane was a pioneer of Atlanta’s speciality coffee scene until it was bought in 2017 by Revelator Coffee, much to the consternation of many. Octane had several locations in the city, but the subject of today’s Coffee Spot, Octane: Westside, is, I believe, the original and the only one to retain the Octane name.

Located in a converted garage, it’s a large, spacious place, with a small amount of outside seating and limited parking. The Petunias blend is on espresso, with two single-origins on pour-over via the Chemex. If you want something stiffer, there’s a full bar, offering a wide range of drinks from 11:30 each day. If you’re hungry, there’s a broad selection of cakes and savouries.

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Terremoto Coffee

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The Terremoto Coffee logo, taken from the A-board outside the coffee shop on W 15th Street in New York.I’m indebted to Bex of Double Skinny Macchiato (and her excellent New York Speciality Coffee Map) for the heads-up on today’s Coffee Spot, Terremoto Coffee. Amanda and I were in New York City for less than 24 hours, en-route from Portland (Maine) to Atlanta. Other than quick stops at Café Grumpy in both the Fashion District and Chelsea, we only had time for one prolonged stop, which was at Terremoto.

There’s not much to Terremoto, just a bench outside and three small tables inside, but size is no limit to its ambition when it comes to coffee. Its most eye-catching feature is the gold Slayer espresso machine, but the real star is the coffee itself. Terremoto serves a wide selection of single-origins on both espresso and pour-over (Kalita Wave), one of which is also available on batch brew, plus there’s a small selection of cakes and pastries if you are hungry.

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Little Woodfords

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The Little Woodfords sign, hanging outside the store on Forest Avenue in Portland, Maine. It's a design based on the clock tower which sits atop of the building and reads "little woodfords | coffee + snacks".Little Woodfords is in the Woodfords Corner neighbourhood of Portland, just west of Back Cove. The staff at Tandem Coffee Roasters tipped me off when I was visiting Amanda last summer and, while we popped in on that trip, I didn’t have a chance to write it up. As a result, on my return to Portland last week, I made it a priority to call in, visiting one sunny Tuesday morning.

Little Woodfords occupies a bright, spacious spot on the busy Forest Avenue, close to its junction with Woodford Street. It’s fairly small, but feels much bigger thanks to the high ceilings (I would guess at least 4 metres) and a tall bay window that runs the full width of the store front, catching the midday and afternoon sun.

The coffee’s from Vivid Coffee Roasters in Vermont, with a single option on espresso, batch brew and flash brew (a pour-over over ice, akin to a Japanese iced coffee). The coffee changes every six months, Little Woodfords working with Vivid to select the particular bean/blend. There’s also tea, hot cocoa and several latte-based specials. If you’re hungry, there’s a small breakfast menu, with various toppings on bagels/biscuits, complete with gluten-free options.

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Whaletown Coffee Co.

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A lovely flat white, made with the Dark Horse blend from Quarter Horse, and served in a gorgeous, handleless cup at Whaletown Coffee Co. in Sheffield.Since I was last in Sheffield, the city’s speciality coffee scene has undergone quite an expansion. Amanda and I were driving past a couple of weeks ago, so we decided to call in and see what was going on. Sadly, we only had time to visit a single shop, choosing Whaletown Coffee Co, which opened at the start of last year, one of several places I’ve found through Instagram (and in particular Coffee Girl Needs).

Whaletown is in Crookes, in the hills to the west of the city centre, which made it relatively easy to get to as we were driving through. A simple, minimalist, Scandi-inspired place, Whaletown is a multi-roaster with a different roaster each month on espresso (two options) and filter (two or three options) although sometimes (as it was during our visit, when Quarter Horse Coffee Roasters was in the house) the same roaster appears on both.

Whaletown offers the usual espresso-based options, batch brew and pour-over (V60 or Chemex for two) as well as several specials. This is backed up by a small but tasty food offering based around sourdough bagels, rye bread, sausage/vegan rolls, granola (for breakfast) and cakes (for those with a sweet tooth).

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Ue Coffee Roastery Cafe & Kitchen

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A pair of pour-overs sitting on a table in the window of the Ue Coffee Roasters Cafe & Kitchen in Witney, slowly steaming in the afternoon sun.I first went to Witney in 2014  to write about Ue Coffee for a feature in Caffeine Magazine. Back then, it was just a roaster (albeit the UK’s only wood-fired roaster), but Ue Coffee’s come a long way since then, launching a sister company, Jeeves & Jericho, which offers artisan loose-leaf tea, as well as opening not one, but two coffee shops in Witney. And then, if that wasn’t enough, it’s also opened a cafe at the roastery (for more on the roastery, check out the Meet the Roaster feature),

Ue Coffee’s on the Windrush Industrial Park, a couple of miles west of Witney, occupying a large, two-storey unit. Other than an eye-catching sign at the industrial park entrance, you wouldn’t know it was there, but despite that, the cafe was doing a roaring trade on the rainy Tuesday when Amanda and I visited.

Not that this is any old coffee bar attached to a roastery. Ue Coffee Roastery Cafe & Kitchen, to give it its full name, has a wide range of coffee, including any of the roastery’s single-origins or blends through V60, Chemex or Aeropress, plus the whole Jeeves & Jericho range of tea. If you’re hungry, there are full breakfast, brunch and lunch menus plus a generous cake selection.

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Dos Mundos Coffee Roastery

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A flat white, made with a San Rafael from Honduras, one of two daily single-origins on espresso at Dos Mundos in Prague. Served in a glass, it's presented on a wooden tray with a glass of water on the side.Monday’s Coffee Spot takes us back to last summer in Prague, when I found so many great coffee shops that I’m still writing about them! Today is the turn of Dos Mondus, another well-established player, which has had a coffee shop/roastery in Vinohrady, east of the centre, since 2013, with a second café opening across the river in Holešovice in 2017.

Typically, I visit places in reverse order, but this time I got it the right way around, trying the original coffee shop/roastery on Korunní first. Occupying a pair of adjoining rooms, the seating is all on the right, while the left-hand side holds both the counter and the roastery, with the roaster, a lovely-looking 6kg Giesen, taking pride of place in the window.

All the coffee is roasted on-site on Mondays and Thursdays, with two options on espresso and one on batch brew. The specific options change daily, drawn from a seasonal selection of up to 10 single-origins from around the world (Dos Mundos had seven single-origins on offer during my visit), all of which are available through V60, Aeropress or Chemex. Naturally, all the beans are available to buy as well, along with a selection of coffee-making kit.

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Ue Coffee Roasters at The Old Smithy

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My flat white, made with the guest coffee, a washed El Salvador, and served at The Smithy, one of two Ue Coffee Roasters shops in Witney. I've drunk half of my flat white, which reveals Ue Coffee Roasters written on the inside rim of the cup.I first went to Witney 2014 to visit Ue Coffee Roasters, out on the Windrush Industrial Park, a couple of miles west of the town. Since then, Ue Coffee has opened a pair of coffee shops, which I discovered when I returned in 2017. The first was the Ue Coffee Roasters True Artisan Café & Store, which opened on the High Street in 2016. The second followed the next year, located in The Old Smithy on Market Square, at the other (southern) end of the High Street. However, it wasn’t until this week that I had a chance to return to Witney to check it out, a mere 2½ years later…

The Old Smithy is a lovely old building (I couldn’t find out exactly how old, but I suspect several hundred years), with Ue Coffee occupying a single, ground floor room plus two more upstairs, the second one over the neighbouring opticians. It offers an espresso-based menu, with Ue’s house-blend joined by its decaf and a monthly guest. Alternatively, there’s a range of loose-leaf tea from sister company Jeeves & Jericho, with a range of cakes and a small selection of savoury items (sausage rolls and muffins) if you’re hungry.

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Coffeeology, Richmond

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Details of the Coffeeology logo (a letter C with the word "Coffeeology" written on it) from the sign hanging outside the original coffee shop in Richmond.This is the original Coffeeology, which opened in the heart of Richmond in 2017 (there’s now a second branch in Chiswick). Although small, occupying a compact section of the town’s old Victorian fire station, with an equally cosy outside seating area, its relative lack of size is no limit to its ambition, with a house-blend on espresso, joined by decaf, plus a single-origin from the current guest roaster. You can also have a V60 or Aeropress made using whatever retail bags Coffeeology has available.

The house-blend and decaf are from Black Saint, Coffeeology’s roasting arm, while the guest roaster is one of three roasters, who are represented in rotation: Plot Roasting from nearby Woolwich, Colonna Coffee from further afield in Bath and, casting the net even wider, Italy’s Gardelli. As if that wasn’t enough, there’s also a small toast-based all-day breakfast menu, several sandwiches, soup and lots of cake.

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Brother Hubbard South

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An excellent flat white, made with the Farmhand house-blend, and served in a classic blue cup at Brother Hubbard South.My first trip to Dublin, back in 2014, saw me visit Brother Hubbard, a comparatively small spot with a reputation for excellent food as well as really good coffee, located just to the north of the River Liffey. Now, six years on, it’s expanded out of all recognition, maybe quadrupling in size, adding, amongst other things, a restaurant and an on-site roastery, Farmhand. Along the way, it rebranded itself Brother Hubbard North to distinguish itself from the subject of today’s Coffee Spot, Brother Hubbard South, which, appropriately enough, is (some way) south of the Liffey.

Brother Hubbard South is spread over two rooms, with a large, covered outside seating terrace. The first room contains the counter, which is only of interest if you are ordering takeaway, while the second room has more seating. Brother Hubbard South follows in the footsteps of the original Brother Hubbard, combining excellent food and really good coffee, which it serves from a breakfast menu (until 11am), an all-day brunch menu and a lunch menu (from 12pm). There’s also an expanded weekend brunch menu, while the Farmhand house-blend is on espresso, with a single-origin on batch brew, joined by a range of other drinks, including prosecco.

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Kiss the Hippo, Richmond

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The Kiss the Hippo logo, an orange hippopotamus in silhouette.In true Coffee Spot fashion, I have visited Kiss the Hippo’s (currently two) locations in reverse order, starting with the Fitzrovia coffee shop in October last year before visiting this, the original coffee shop/roastery in Richmond. Kiss the Hippo, perhaps the UK’s most unusually-named coffee business, opened its first coffee shop in 2018. Occupying the first two floors of a three-storey building in the heart of Richmond, the spacious and bright ground floor contains the counter, laptop-free seating and, right at the back, the roastery. The smaller upstairs is more welcoming to laptop users and, as well as additional seating, contains a training room and a small library.

All the coffee is roasted on the Loring S15 Falcon at the back of the store, with the seasonal George Street house-blend joined by a single-origin and decaf on espresso, while there are two more single-origins on pour-over via the Kalita Wave. If you’re hungry, there’s brunch until 3 pm (4 pm on Fridays and the weekend), plus cake throughout the day. Naturally, all the coffee’s available to purchase in retail bags, along with a selection of coffee-making equipment and merchandising. Note that Kiss the Hippo is cashless, so bring your cards!

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